Rok Hollywood – DVD – (2007)

Rok Hollywood is a glam metal band on the rise, from Indianapolis, Indiana. The last couple of years the band has been growing their fan base, by playing at the 2006 Cruefest in Hollywood, CA which featured bands like Vains of Jenna, Antidote (Dirty Penny), Kid Ego, and Miss Crazy. Rok Hollywood has also opened for several marquee acts including: Ratt, Poison, Black Stone Cherry, Cinderella, L.A. Guns and Lynyrd Skynyrd.

They are a band on the rise on MTV2, and with a little luck could become a household name in the glam metal scene before long.

The band has allowed HardRockHideout.com to have a glimpse at their yet unreleased DVD. This disc captures a live show by Rok Hollywood, in which they opened for L.A Guns at the 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis. I was at this show, but due to traffic, I missed all but the last few minutes of the band’s performance. Based on what I have watched on this DVD, Rok Hollywood puts on one hell of a show. This DVD captures several of the Rok Hollywood’s original tracks, and a couple of cover tunes that the band performed live. Singer Shawn Merrill has a voice that falls somewhere between Dave Meniketti and Sebastian Bach. Guitarist David Short proves to be a very solid six stringer. His brother, drummer DarenShort is his equal on the skins. The band is rounded out nicely by guitarist Mike Rubadue, and new bass player, Aaron Lanane.

This DVD is not the finished product, as the band is going to capture more live footage, and interviews etc, to enhance this DVD. It is an entertaining set, and will be a worthy pick up for glam metal fans once the final product is released.

Until then, show Rok Hollywood some love, by checking out their myspace page, and pick up a copy of their CD. Just click on the logo below, or visit www.myspace.com/rokhollywood

We have had a lot of praise, and support for what we do. And we have also had criticism. Sometimes people actually know what they are talking about. And sometimes they have no merit or basis for their opinion.

Either way, we’ve played a lot of cool shows here in Indy, Nashville, and Hollywood. And we will continue to do that whether some hack likes us or not. Comments about our name usually signify someone who lacks experience in writing a credible review. But if someone likes what we do, negative comments from an amateur writer most likely won’t change their mind. We appreciate those who appreciate us.

These are kind of a sight-unseen comments, because I haven’t heard this band yet. First, it’s always a bad sign when the word “rock” is included in a band name (or song title or album title). A “creative” spelling of “rock” makes that sign exponentially worse. Second, why would a band from the Midwest have Hollywood in their name? It sounds to me like they have an identity crisis. They want to be LA, but they’ll likely always fail because it isn’t who they are. This is the kind of superficiality that made so many of the hair metal bands of the 80s so awful.

All that being said, now I’ll go and listen to them to see if I’m on target!